Photo above by Louise Roys
Flag Day June 14th in Cedar Lake! No one documents events in Cedar Lake like Louise Roys! She is the lady taking the picture of the marchers, below, in blue and took the photo above that includes, among others, Chris Retson (with Mourdock sign), my wife and a few of the youngest marchers. There is a very good chance you will see Louise selling jewelry at Cedar Lake Summerfest this year. Louise Roys is the owner/operator of Glimpses Photography and Aquarius Custom Jewelry.
As I understand it, only two municipalities in the State of Indiana had an official Flag Day Parade and Celebration on June the 14th in the "Year of Our Lord 2012", as Mitch Daniels proclaimed. One was Fort Wayne and the other? Cedar Lake! Over 100 people gathered to march up Lakeshore Drive and then gather around the Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center where we all recited the Pledge of Allegiance at 6 PM CST along with Americans all over the nation at the same time, giving honor to the flag that stands for an ideal and great ideas from which sprung the Republic we call the United States of America.
From Cedar Lake website and apparently also from the Times
Bob Carnahan welcomes guests to a
celebration in observance of the 33rd annual National Flag Day on
Thursday, June 14, 2012, in Cedar Lake. | Scott R. Brandush~Sun-Times Media
Cedar Lake Town Council President Bob Carnahan was master of ceremonies for the event, calling upon various politicians to read messages from office-holders of both parties. There is a full description of the events at the end of this post and also found at this website.
All was going according to plan. Cedar Lake native Brenda Roberts sang like the opera singer she is, young Katie Jostes led us all in saying the Pledge of Allegiance in unison. Then various politicians stepped up to read statements. When Gerry Scheub (Lake County Councilman D-2) stepped up to read his portion of the various declarations, he read aloud that the flags would be flown until "Depencence Day"
Dependence Day? One might see this as a Freudian slip? We all heard him say it, no doubt a slip of the tongue and yet that is what the Democrats seem to represent. Trying to form a society where most of the people look to the government to meet their needs? Think I will vote for Jerry Tippy, myself!
Thanks to Richard Hackley for the image, below:
Would you tell your story, Chris?
"It was a pleasure meeting you today!
Hopefully this answers the questions you had:
I had actually been vacationing in
Greece up until the day before the convention, so I had no idea what to expect
on Friday. When I arrived at the convention, I found both the Republican
Liberty Caucus (aka the Ron Paul crowd) and Tea Party Caucus energized and
visible, but seemingly without any sort of plan for how their respective causes
would fit into the GOP. The establishment, it seemed, had prepared to
quell the disruptions and hostile takeover attempts they anticipated from these
groups. Friday’s district meetings confirmed my perceptions, as the
party’s pre-selected slates were quickly pushed through approval without
allowing any sort of debate, followed by loud grumblings by the RLC and TEA
caucuses.
I went and sat alone at a nearby
pub for some dinner, and while eating my burger, I overheard one table of TEA
supporters and a larger table of RLC supporters discussing their displeasure
about being shut-out of the party’s decisions. I thought about the irony
of how the RLC and TEA groups found common ground and compromise and had become
allies - even though the differences between these groups is probably greater
than the difference between the GOP establishment and either group – while the
integration of the two groups into the GOP, on the other hand, has been at an
impasse.
I woke up early the next morning
(aided by jet-lag) and read through the party platform we would be ratifying
that morning at the general session. I was actually very pleased to see
that the RLC’s influence was recognized in the platform, which (surprisingly) dropped
the idea of regulating abortion, with a note calling for the respect of
differing opinions within the party on this subject. Perhaps they aren’t
shutting the RLC out after all! I read it all over one more time - to
decide whether the platform reflected more of a focus on cleaning up and
improving government, or on the sorts of causes the GOP took up in the 1970s
that sent the libertarians packing. It was on this second run that I
realized there was no mention of transparency or accountability anywhere in the
platform!
For me, this is the key defining
point of the GOP. My mother’s parents and my father’s parents were all
ex-Democrats, having switched sides after seeing first-hand the corruption,
grift, and lies that define the Democratic Party. To me, “good
government” is more than pointing fingers and laughing derisively whenever (yet
another) Democratic politician gets caught stealing from the taxpayers and gets
hauled off to Club Fed. It’s about recognizing that humans are imperfect,
and that while we do like to believe (with complete sincerity) that our party’s
bureaucrats and elected officials wouldn’t abuse their powers in such a way,
it’s better to ensure through transparency and openness that they cannot
do so. Only through transparency can we achieve honest, efficient, and
effective government; and this is the only way to earn the public’s
trust. And only through the public’s trust can we get the public’s
blessing and cooperation to accomplish things that will make our lives better.
The Democrat way, by contrast, is to tell the public to shut up and allow their
“betters” in the government to make their lives better - and then the public
watches those “betters” steal their money and not accomplish what they
promised.
I drafted up an amendment to the
platform, and added a line about auditing the Federal Reserve. I did this
for two reasons. First, I hate mission statements, in both business and
politics, that are just flowery words with no real weight – I find it much more
meaningful to give specific examples of things that will be done. Second,
this is a cause that is shared by both the RLC and the TEA groups, and would
help bring the party together if the establishment would compromise.
Unanimous approval was NOT something I expected when I went before the
convention to plead my case for the amendment, but that was exactly what I
got. Furthermore, after the amendment was approved, the party platform
was also unanimously approved – also something I didn’t expect, especially after
the grumblings I’d heard the night before from the disenfranchised RLC and TEA
caucuses - and a good sign that the party, perhaps, is finally coming together.
You can look up “Chris Retson Republican” on google to find a video of my motion on the floor of the convention, as well as news articles on it."
If you do the Google search, you will find articles and YouTubes to augment the report of the happenings at the Convention.
Chris Retson could have a very promising future and I do thank him for the convention report. As I like to say, "We lick our wounds and join forces because the differences between conservatives are much less important that the difference between us and the liberals."
Below is what The Post-Tribune published concerning the event, authored by Carrie Napoleon:
Patriotic tribute
By Carrie Napoleon
Post-Tribune correspondent
June 19, 2012 1:26PM
Updated: June 19, 2012 1:26PM
Members of the Cedar Lake
American Legion Post #261 march down Lake Shore Drive during a parade
honoring the 33rd annual National Flag Day on Thursday, June 14, 2012,
in Cedar Lake. | Scott R. Brandush~Sun-Times Media
American flags lined Lake Shore
Drive in Cedar Lake Thursday, June 14, as the patriotic paid tribute to
Old Glory during the town’s 13th annual Flag Day parade.
More than 100 walkers dressed in red, white and
blue followed the procession from the Dairy Queen to the Chamber of
Commerce for the town’s annual Pause for the Pledge commemoration on the
33rd anniversary of Flag Day.
Larry Ponziano of Cedar Lake came to watch the
event and his son, Robbie, 14, who was a member of Boy Scout Troop 105.
The Troop was part of the parade of flags.
“I am very proud of our community,” Ponziano
said. He said events such as the parade and Pause make him glad he moved
to the town 17 years ago to raise his three sons.
“I really find there are some family values here,” he said.
The event featured a number of speakers
including Town Councilman Robert Carnahan, Clerk-Treasurer Amy Sund,
State Sen. Sue Landske, Lake County Councilman Gerry Schueb, D-2, and
Mark Lopez from U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky’s office, along with a
performance from opera singer and Cedar Lake native Brenda Roberts.
Boy Scout Troop 105 was joined by Cub Scout Pack
129, Girl Scout Troop 70 and four time state champion Hanover Central
Pom Cats, along with American Legion Post 261, Amvets Post 15 and its
Ladies Auxillary.
Youngster Katie Jostes was tapped to lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance
at exactly 6 p.m. as part of a nationally
synchronized effort to get Americans to stop and say the pledge during
the Pause for the Pledge effort.
Friends LouAnn Miller, Fran Holtz and Kim
Porter, as well as Porter’s children Nicole 12 and Joey, 8, were among
those who participated in the patriotic event.
Miller was bedecked in red, white and blue attire to mark the occasion.
“I come every year. I think it’s important to
remember what the flag is a symbol of, where it came from and to bring
everybody together,” Miller said.
The women said it is important to remember our heritage and make sure that it is passed along to the next generation.
“I like to come down here. We need to remember our culture and the people who keep us safe,” Nicole Porter said.
“And to remember our heritage,” Holtz said.
Madison Jecmen, 6, and her mom Tara Jean
Brink-Jecman of Momence, Ill., decorated their bicycles with patriotic
flair to participate in the parade. It was their first time at the
event. Brink-Jecman said when her daughter heard about the parade from
her grandparents, she could not wait to take part. The pair went out
Wednesday and purchased streamers and flags to decorate their bikes and
dressed from head to toe in red, white and blue attire.
“She woke up at eight today and asked if it was time for the parade,” Brink-Jecman said. “She was so excited.”
